San Francisco 49ers coordinator Jimmy Raye's experience is fodder for both critics and supporters

By Daniel BrownSan Jose Mercury News

Posted:
09/19/2010 07:56:29 PM PDT

Updated:
09/19/2010 07:56:30 PM PDT

In a profile of Jimmy Raye, the Los Angeles Times noted that the assistant coach "has been in the NFL so long he is seen as a member of the old guard."

That description appeared in 1991.

Flash forward two decades and the description seems quaint. As the 49ers head into Monday's game against the Saints at Candlestick Park, Raye is under fire not for being old -- but for being old-fashioned. The offensive coordinator's proclivity for up-the-middle runs and homespun phrases seem outdated in an era of whiz-bang passing teams such as New Orleans.

For the record, Raye was born, like the 49ers franchise itself, in 1946. That makes him 64, which is hardly ancient, even on an NFL coaching staff. Bill Belichick is 58, Pete Carroll is 59, Tom Moore is 71 and Dick LeBeau is 73, to name a few of the league's notable head coaches and assistants.

But Raye didn't exactly silence the notion that he's behind the times last week when asked about a Yahoo! Sports story critical of his game-day communication. "Who's Yahoo? I don't know him," Raye replied, before adding: "Whoever Yahoo is, maybe he should come call the plays."

More troubling than the story is the 49ers' performance on the field. The team ranked 27th in total offense last season and opened the season last week by eking out only two field goals against Seattle.

Such struggles dominate Raye's résumé. In 12 seasons as an NFL coordinator, his offenses have cracked the league's top 10 only once in total yardage (eighth with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2000). Raye's other rankings: 12th (twice), 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st (twice), 23rd, 26th, 27th (twice) and 28th.

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Raye's supporters, however, argue that Raye's birth certificate and extensive résumé are precisely the reasons to have faith. Where critics see age, the 49ers see experience. Noting that this is Raye's 34th season in the NFL, coach Mike Singletary said this week, "Don't base a man's entire career on a dang-gum Yahoo commercial."

Singletary retained Raye based on his work last season, when the play-caller helped solve the riddle of Vernon Davis. The previously disappointing tight end had 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns, just a year after being used as a glorified run-blocker by previous coordinator Mike Martz.

Also under Raye, quarterback Alex Smith established a career-high with 18 touchdown passes. Smith threw more TD passes in 11 games for Raye than he did in 16 games under Norv Turner in 2006. Smith did so while also throwing fewer interceptions.

Even the Yahoo! Sports story, which brought to light the 49ers' communication problems, included an overlooked line describing Raye as "one of the more respected veteran coaches in the league."

Rather than basing the man's career on some dang-gum Yahoo commercial, let's take a refresher course on the man's résumé.

A passer in his past

James Arthur Raye II, criticized these days for his simple running game, burst onto the national scene as a star passer. He was one of the first black quarterbacks in major college football, leading Michigan State to a share of the national championship with Alabama in 1965 and Notre Dame in 1966.

A native of Fayetteville, N.C., Raye was among the first wave of African-American quarterbacks who found schools in the Midwest and West willing to give them a chance. Disgruntled fans bombarded MSU coach Duffy Daugherty with pleas to move Raye to another position, but Daugherty told them: "If Jimmy Raye leads this team to the Rose Bowl, you won't even remember that he's black. You'll remember two colors: Spartan green and Rose Bowl red."

In the Rose Bowl played Jan. 1, 1966, Raye entered the game in the second half and directed two long scoring drives, but UCLA held on to win 14-12.

Hall of Fame defensive end Bubba Smith, a teammate of Raye's on that Michigan State team, told the Kansas City Star: "He was as natural a quarterback as anyone I'd ever seen. He was fluid, he was graceful, and he was all class, you know? Carried himself well. Handled everything well.

"Me, they'd seen plenty of black kids playing defense by then. But he was out front. He was the quarterback. I don't even think I know what that meant at the time."

Raye faced Notre Dame in the so-called "Game of the Century" in 1966. Michigan State was No. 1 according to UPI while Notre Dame was No. 1 in The Associated Press' poll. The game ended a 10-10 tie.

From player to coach

Raye played one season in the NFL, where the Philadelphia Eagles converted to him to defensive back. His career stat sheet on pro-football-reference.com: two games (no starts) and a fumble recovery.

Raye's first coaching gig was as the passing game coordinator at his alma mater from 1972-75. After one season coaching wide receivers at the University of Wyoming, it was off to the NFL.

He started, oddly enough, with the 49ers. Coach Ken Meyer hired Raye to coach wide receivers in 1977. Raye continued to work his way up the ranks and, by the late 1980s, he was on the shortlist of candidates to become the first African-American head coach in the NFL. He and young Tony Dungy were the first black coaches to get interviews for head coaching jobs in 50 years.

"I was in my late 30s, and I had all the gusto and I had the brashness," Raye told the Times in 1991. "And people were saying good things about me, and I had a sense of confidence that lent itself toward being successful because I had been successful as a player and then all of my coaching career, so I just thought that the next step was inevitable.

"But there were too many other variables that I failed to negotiate when I made some of the decisions that I made, and they turned out to be the things that brought me full circle."

Art Shell became the NFL's first black head coach, with the Raiders in 1989.

Righting the ship

Raye has never been a head coach but has been an offensive coordinator for seven teams: the Rams (1983-84, '91), Buccaneers (1985-86), Patriots (1990), Chiefs (1998-2000), Redskins (2001), Raiders (2004-05) and 49ers (2009-present).

Only one of those teams won a playoff game: the first one, the '83 Rams.

Raye hopes to end that drought with a team hailed as one of the most talented 49ers squads in years. But the early returns were dismal. Raye will have to right a ship that looked capsized a week ago in Seattle.

In the news conference that followed days later, Raye calmly rehashed the problems with the headsets, the squandered timeouts and the misfires in the passing game. The quarterback for the Game of the Century rankled only at the insinuation he was ducking blame.

"We lost the game in Seattle. It goes with the territory," he said. "I bear my brunt of the responsibility for what took place up there. I've done this a long time, it's my 34th year in the National Football League. I'm not flawless. "... I've lived up to my responsibility every day I've been here as a San Francisco 49er coach, and I did that on Sunday."